The Importance of Stretching

Stretching after your workout is an important step towards reaching your health and fitness goals. Learn the benefits of stretching, as well as a great hamstring stretch, in this Motivation Minute segment.

Video Transcript

[Music]

Speaker: Today I'm here to talk to you a little about flexibility training. Ideally performed flexibility training most days of the week when our bodies are warm. Bart's going to demonstrate the hamstring stretch for us. Level one is just taking the heel on the floor, keeping the chest up, shoulders back and hinging from the hips, keeping a nice flat back and just leaning into it until you feel a mild tension, never any pain. Pain is always a red flag when we're stretching. If you need a little bit more, he can take his leg up a little bit higher, and again keeping the chest up, shoulders back nice flat back and just pushing forward until he feels a mild tension, and then holding for 20 -30 seconds. Breathe through the stretch and then switch sides and even it out. Stretching should be performed after your cardio or weight training workouts, common myth is to stretch before. You really want to focus on deep stretching after, before activity we really want to warm up, not stretch.